Interpersonal Relations

Melancholy

The people with melancholy temperaments are the perfectionists. You know the type, right? Now, they might not happen to be perfectionists across the board, though. Sometimes some of them give up on certain areas of life over which they don't seem to have enough control or which they don't think are as important. But they still secretly wish that those things could be kept perfectly, even if they have given up on it externally.

While the choleric doesn't want everyone to be like him but rather to DO what he tells them to do; and the sanguine doesn't want everyone to be like her but to laugh at her jokes; the person of the melancholy temperament often cannot understand, for the life of him, why others are not like him! Why can't everyone see how important the important things are? Why can't everyone strive for perfection? What is wrong with others? While we might like for the melancholy to lighten up and not cast a shadow of gloom, we are also very indebted to the melancholy types.

It is the person of a melancholy temperament who is usually extremely loyal, very sensitive to your feelings, very compassionate to your hurts. If you want sympathy, a melancholy is your man (or woman). But please don't hurt them because they will not forget. If others could ask just one thing of the melancholy, it would probably be to forgive and forget. Of course, they are often good at remembering other things too, which maybe others might forget, such as your birthday! Or what kind of dessert you like best.

A melancholy person is usually compliant to laws, rules, and regulations. Shouldn't we all be though? (By the way, I am part melancholy myself, so you may take that admonition accordingly.)

The emotions of a melancholy are very deep. If you know a person of the melancholy temperament, you may never know what that person is feeling. Or you may find out after twenty-five years. Honestly!

By the way, even though the word "melancholy" means "sadness", melancholy people aren't always melancholy in that sense. They can smile a lot - more of a kind, faithful smile than a bubbly smile - and they can be very cheerful people.

We definitely need the melancholy temperament to keep us on track, and to be understanding of us, and compassionate, when the chips are down.

DISCLAIMER: Please note again, as I said in the introduction to the temperaments, that most people are a combination of two or even three temperaments, and also that there are many other factors that go into the making of our personalities.

More info: Choleric - Sanguine - Melancholy - Phlegmatic

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